An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter IV: Of the Origin and Use of Money

Claims Supported by This Source

1. The scene of the inconvenience of barter (butcher, brewer, baker) is written as a supposition, starting with "One man, we shall suppose, has more of a certain commodity…".
2. As an example of cattle being an instrument of commerce, it quotes Homer: "The armour of Diomede, says Homer, cost only nine oxen; but that of Glaucus cost a hundred oxen." Salt, shells, dried cod, tobacco, sugar, hides, and nails are cited as hearsay with "is said to be."
3. As an example of metals being used in commerce, it cites Pliny's Natural History, Book 33, Chapter 3 (Timaeus's account), stating that until Servius Tullius, the Romans used uncoined bars of copper.
4. Records of societies that lived by barter are not cited in this chapter.

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